“I found it very depressing and upsetting. I’ve cried and cried and just when I think I have no tears left, I find more.”

The crash was triggered by the sudden death of founder and sole director Peter Rexstrew in a Lisbon hospital in June.

His son Charlie Rexstrew and daughter, Katy Grogan, were appointed directors two days later, but stopped trading in July.

Their solicitor said: “With little assistance from Barclays and with limited information our clients were unable to reconcile the company’s finances/accounts.”

Image:The FCA is looking at whether there was criminal activity at Premier FX

When the FCA discovered the company’s unauthorised activity it forced it into administration.

Bryn Paling, 57, said the FCA should have been aware of how Premier FX was using its customers’ money.

He said: “FCA authorisation doesn’t actually mean a great deal.

“It doesn’t actually do any checks or audits on these companies. They give them a list of things to follow, then it’s left to the company directors to abide by the rules. If they don’t, nobody checks them.”

Chef Dave Pratley, 59, sold his Oxfordshire restaurant and moved his Portuguese wife Teresa and family to the Algarve last year.

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The bought a home with money channelled through Premier FX, but he was renovating the hillside property when the company crashed and his £56,000 disappeared.

In tears, he said: “Hand on heart, I don’t expect to get anything back. If I don’t it will kill me. It wasn’t a dream. This was achievable, really achievable.”